Hassan and quid pro quo

Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan was right on the mark Monday when she told state agency heads their spending requests for the next two-year budget cycle were unrealistic.

“The requests total far more than our economy and taxpayers can afford,” Hassan said as three days of budget hearings got under way.

Collectively, department budget crunchers are asking for 26 percent more spending for the state-funded portion of the budget, which excludes pass-through dollars from the federal government. Included in those spending requests is one from the University System of New Hampshire of an additional $100 million, which would restore funding cut by the outgoing GOP-led legislature.

Despite her tight-fisted comments, the editorial board here at Foster’s Daily Democrat is of the belief Hassan will live up to the deal she struck with the University System board of trustees during her campaign. Readers will remember that then-candidate Hassan offered UNH President Mark Huddleston this: Freeze tuition for two years and get funding restored. It was a deal quickly accepted by USNH trustees back then, and offered again Monday as USNH spokesmen sought to call in that marker.

“With full funding, we will freeze tuition, nearly double financial aid and continue to develop partnerships with employers and the community college system to implement innovative paths to degree completion,” said USNH Board of Trustees Vice-Chair Pamela Diamantis on Monday.

While Hassan has not publicly indicated where she stands on fulfilling her end of the deal, USNH officials gave the incoming governor plenty of ammunition to justify exempting the system from her budget warning.

According to testimony by Chancellor Edward MacKay, the Granite state must confront the loss of its high school graduates to other out-of-state schools, a problem for businesses and a hindrance to growing the state’s economy.

He continued: “Together, the institutions that comprise the university system annually contribute $2.2 billion to the state’s economy in work force development, employment and direct expenditures. The nature of that investment is becoming ever more crucial. The New Hampshire work force is changing. Our highly educated workers are aging and fewer are arriving from out-of-state. ... we must grow our own.”

Huddleston reportedly added that partnerships with businesses in the state have led to a 10 percent increase in corporate-sponsored research awards, with $159 million in external research grants going to UNH alone in this fiscal year.

“New Hampshire cannot cede its place in the innovation and technology marketplace to Massachusetts. We must invest in our future by funding higher education and supporting our research university,” Huddleston said.

Making Hassan’s deal even more defensible is a Granite State poll, which Plymouth State President Sara Jayne Steen said showed 71 percent support for restoring the funding.

Also giving USNH a fighting chance of getting full funding is the Democrats stated intention during the election season to raise the cigarette tax that was lowered under by the Republican-led legislature. According to estimates offered during editorial boards, that tally could nearly cover the $100 million request.

Finally, as best we can tell, this is the only such quid pro quo deal Hassan made during the campaign. And with the likelihood the incoming legislature will repeal the costly cut made previously in the cigarette tax, a sizable portion of the USNH funding request could be available when the new budget cycle kicks in for 2014-15.